


Surprising Behavior

by Lunakitty



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Assassins & Hitmen, BAMF Sansa Stark, F/M, Jon Snow Needs a Hug, Jon Snow and Sansa Stark Are Not Related, Minor Harrold Hardyng/Sansa Stark, Nurse Sansa Stark, Sassy Arya Stark, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 20:33:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 18,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28819308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunakitty/pseuds/Lunakitty
Summary: Sansa decides to break out of her shell for once and surprise her boyfriend Harry by turning up in his hotel room at a work conference.Unfortunately there's a mix up.The man in the room?Yeah, he's not such a nice, normal guy.One simple mistake sends the usually law abiding, kind hearted Sansa on a dangerous path with a dangerous man.And she will exhibit some very surprising behavior.
Relationships: Jon Snow/Sansa Stark
Comments: 168
Kudos: 152





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I was heavily inspired by the pilot episode of the TV show Good Behavior.  
> I'm not sure where I'm going with this story but hopefully it'll be a fun trip. 
> 
> Jon is darkish but hopefully not too dark.  
> Villian with a heart of gold-ish? 
> 
> Anyway, thanks for giving it a chance.  
> I own nothing and all mistakes and general dumbassedry are mine.

Sansa Stark was not usually the type of woman who surprised people but that was about to change. 

She had taken a couple of days off of work to surprise her boyfriend Harry at an out of town work conference.  
He had tried his best to convince Sansa to come along with him but she had already volunteered to take an extra shift at the hospital and said no. 

And truthfully, she had been feeling a bit uncertain about her relationship with Harry.  
She thought a week apart might actually be good for them. 

Sansa was a pediatric nurse at Wintertown General Hospital. She loved her patients and genuinely didn't mind occasionally picking up extra shifts to help out her coworkers. 

She had met Harry at work.  
He was a pharmaceutical rep and often roamed the halls of the hospital, schmoozing with doctors (and flirting with pretty much everyone else.)  
Harry was tall, fit, handsome and charming.  
And sure he had a bit of a reputation as a player but truthfully, it had been two years since her only serious relationship ended and Sansa was ready to move on.  
Why not move on with Harry?  
She wasn't looking to settle down yet and she strongly suspected Harry wasn't either. She finally accepted the third time he invited her out for coffee. 

Six months later, here they were. 

Their dates mainly consisted of expensive dinners in upscale restaurants schmoozing with doctors and their spouses.  
Harry often told her she was his good luck charm and each time one of those dinners resulted in a new sales contract for him, Harry sent her flowers.

The problem was, despite how flirty and handsome he was and how much of a player reputation he had among the nursing staff...the sex was not spectacular. 

She knew not everyone had chemistry like her parents or her brother Robb and his wife or hell, even like her sister Arya and her "just a friend" Gendry. Nevertheless, Sansa wanted to believe it was possible for her to have that passion too.  
She wanted that spark with a man. She really did. 

As confident as Harry seemed when he flirted with literally everyone, Sansa expected...well...more from him in bed.

She was afraid it was her. Maybe she was not a woman who could drive a man wild. 

Granted she only had only slept with one other man, her college boyfriend Willas.  
Willas was very tender and considerate. 

Sometimes annoyingly tender.  
And though she loved how generous and attentive Willas had been...she never felt comfortable telling him to go harder or pull her hair or tie her up or talk dirty to her.  
She wasn't sure she'd like any of those things but she definitely wanted to try them.

Harry, so far, seemed to only want 15 minutes of missionary and then he immediately rolled off of her and fell asleep.

She was lamenting her apparent inability to drive her lovers to madness when her best friend Margarey interrupted her to say "Sansa, darling. Take the bull by the horns. Jeyne works at the conference hotel. Get her to give you a key to his room and you can be waiting for him on his bed in some amazing lingerie. Trust me, he'll love it!" 

After a lot of egging on from Marg and three glasses of Dornish red for courage, Sansa called Jeyne to arrange the surprise, asked her boss to ask for a couple of days off and then she booked a flight. 

******************************** 

"Jeyne, you're the best. I owe you one," Sansa said as she grabbed the key card from Jeyne at the front desk. 

Jeyne shook her head, chuckling.  
"I almost didn't recognize you in that get up."  
Sansa pulled down her sunglasses, winking at Jeyne. "Had to hide the hair or the surprise would be over," she whispered, tugging down the brim of her hat.  
She was afraid of accidentally running into Harry in the lobby. Her long, auburn hair was unmistakable. 

Jeyne laughed as she told Sansa "Room 1087. They should be wrapping up meetings in about thirty minutes. I'll page Harry to come back then. Have fun." 

Sansa tapped the key card on the desk and grinned at Jeyne before she twirled away with a saucy swing in her step. 

Sansa had to admit, the resort was even nicer than she expected as she entered room 1087 and took a look around. She opened the closet to stash her small carry-on and noticed a black pea coat and a pair of black jeans hanging inside. That was weird. Harry was not a black pea coat and jeans kinda guy. Sansa was contemplating the rather exciting idea that maybe Harry also had a sexy out of town persona when her phone chirped with a call from Jeyne.  
Sansa frowned, thinking maybe Harry was already in route. She really wanted to take a quick shower and change into her new lingerie before he arrived. 

"Hey Jey..." Sansa couldn't finish her greeting before a panicked Jeyne cut her off frantically whispering "Wrong room. Get out of there! I'm sorry!"  
Sansa was momentarily frozen in place.  
"What..."  
"Sansa? You've gotta get outta there. Now! I just realized I fucked up when the guy stopped by the desk. He's on his way up there. Get out! I could get fired for this!" 

"Shit! Of course! On my way out now," Sansa whispered back, frantically grabbing her purse off the table, dropping her phone in the process. 

She scrambled to collect her phone and purse and dive into the closet to get her suitcase when she heard the tell tale electronic buzz of the key card at the door. 

'Shit, shit, shit' she thought as she stepped into the closet and gently pulled the door closed behind her.  
She silenced her phone with shaky hands and prayed the man was just stopping by his room for a minute before heading back out.

She watched him through the slats in the closet door as he poured himself a whisky from the minibar and sat at the table.  
It was hard to see much but he seemed to be about her age or a little older, dark curly hair, average height and very fit looking in his black jeans and t-shirt. 

She stared at the man desperately wishing he would just get up and walk out.  
'Come on,' she thought. 'Please just leave, Curls.'

A knock at the door startled Sansa so badly she had to clamp her hand over her mouth to stifle her gasp. 

Curls walked over to let in another man who seemed rather like an average soccer dad in jeans, cozy sweater and windbreaker jacket. 

As the two men sat down at the table together, Soccer Dad's knee started bouncing frantically as he said  
"I brought the rest of the money. Twenty thousand cash, unmarked bills, just like you said."  
Soccer Dad pulls out a thick envelope from his jacket pocket and slides it across the table toward Curls. 

Curls doesn't move. 

"Arlen, are you sure you want to do this? Once you leave this room, there's no stopping it. No second chances."  
The Northern burr of Curls' voice catches her attention. It reminded her of home. 

"I..I..I'm sure, ," Arlen stutters.  
"How will you do it? I..I don't want her to suffer, Jon..." Arlen asks, now hunched over and wringing his hands. 

Jon leans over and puts his hand on Arlen's knee to stop the bouncing.  
"She won't suffer," he says softly as he straightens back up. 

Sansa feels a chill as her stomach clenches. What the hell is happening here? 

Arlen nods running his hands through his hair. "When..." 

"Late today. While you and your son are at the birthday party," Jon says briskly. "Leave the sliding door unlocked, alarm off. Make sure you are noticed at the party. Take lots of photos." 

Arlen nods as his knee begins bouncing again. 

Jon pats Arlen on the shoulder. "Go home now. Be calm. You have to act like its a normal day." 

Arlen abruptly pushes back from the table and stands up. He continues nodding inanely as he backs toward the door. 

"Thank you," Arlen croaks as he pulls open the door to leave. 

Once Arlen is out the door, Jon releases a long breath and turns toward the closet. He seems to be looking directly at her as he says "You can come out now. Or I can drag you out. Whichever you prefer." 

The only thought Sansa had was "Shit."


	2. Chapter 2

I'll come out," Sansa said reluctantly as she desperately tried to think of a plan.  
Any plan.  
As soon as the door opened, she saw sharp, icy gray eyes focused on her.  
She was yanked out of the closet and pushed against the wall before she could take a breath. 

A chill ran down her spine as her cheek was pressed against the wall and he used his knee to pry her legs apart. 

She felt his hands patting her down, firmly and efficiently before he spun her around and started patting down the front of her body.  
That was when Sansa found her voice  
"Get off me" she hissed, trying to knock his hands away. 

He grabbed her by the throat with one hand and pushed her back against the wall.  
"Shut up," he growled.  
He pulled up her shirt with his free hand and dipped into each of her bra cups before lifting her skirt and patting her down between her thighs. 

Sansa's mind froze. She was terrified. 

"Stop" she wheezed, her hands coming up to clutch at his fingers around her throat. 

He stepped back. His hand still around her throat and growled "Who the fuck are you?" 

"Nobody. Let me go. I can explain. I swear to all of the gods I won't say anything," she said between coughing and wheezing. 

"That's not happening," he said coldly.  
His lips were peeled back in a snarl.  
He looked like he could tear her throat out with his teeth. 

The gravity of the situation was not lost on Sansa.  
She had to get the hell out of this room and away from this man before he finished strangling her. 

He was never going to believe she was just a nurse trying to surprise her boyfriend. Never. 

"Okay. I'll tell you everything," she whispered.  
That was enough for him to relax his grip on her throat.  
Out of nowhere it occurred to her that she was well and truly fucked but definitely not in the way she hoped. A mad, wheezy giggle escaped her. A split second of confusion flashed across those cold, gray eyes of his and he almost reflexively took half a step away from her. 

It was the only chance she'd get so she did the only thing she knew to do.  
Fight dirty. 

Holding contact with his eyes, she slowly raised her hands, palms out, in gesture of surrender.  
Just as she hoped, his eyes tracked her hands.  
She suddenly and viciously dug her nails into his arm and scratched. It was enough to make him involuntarily release his grip on her throat. She stomped down on his toes with all of her strength as she balled up her fist and swung her forearm out to knock his hand away from her. It was enough to startle him and he stumbled back another half a step.  
She then dipped low and slammed her shoulder into his chest, knocking him even further off balance. 

She kicked his knee as hard as she could.  
He grunted loudly as he bent forward but still managed to grab her arm with a brutal grip. 

She reached out blindly with her free hand and grabbed a vase from the desk and slammed it across his head.  
As he staggered a few feet and slumped, dazed across the bed, she scrambled to grab her purse and ran for the door. 

She ran as fast as she could and slammed through the door to the stairwell. 

She had never run so fast in her life. Her heart was beating hard enough to vaguely concern the nurse inside her head  
but she couldn't stop now.  
She slipped down the last few steps and her phone flew out of her purse. She scrambled for it and then burst through the stairwell door as she called Jeyne's cell. 

"Sansa?! Where are you..."  
"Jeyne. Listen to me! It went bad. He's...hurt. I hurt him."  
"Oh my God. Are you okay? What the hell happened..."  
"Jeyne, just please send someone to check on him. No cops. And not you! Just...send someone else. I have to get out of here. Now!"  
"Sansa!"  
"I gotta go. I'll call you later," Sansa tapped the button to end the call as she reached the lobby floor. 

She shoved her sunglasses on and kept her head down as she walked quickly through the lobby. Hoping like hell she was staying somewhat out of security camera range. 

She burst through the door leading outside and breathlessly asked the valet to hail a taxi for her.  
It was only when she was halfway to the airport that it occurred to her that she left her suitcase in the hotel room.  
And in that suitcase were her birth control pills with her name and address. 

Shit.


	3. Chapter 3

Jon Snow was extremely angry and mildly confused.  
  
As soon as he walked into his hotel room he smelled her perfume, a light citrus scent, better than a drugstore brand but not top of the line.  
  
He glanced around the room. She left her keycard on the bed. Not a professional then. Good.  
  
He couldn't risk confronting her at that moment. His client was due to arrive any second and Arlen was already jumpy as it was.  
  
When Arlen knocked on the room door, Jon saw a flash of color through the slats in the closet door.  
There she was. He almost smiled.  
  
As soon as Anxious Arlen left, Jon called the woman out.  
He had a job to do tonight. He had to make whatever this was quick.  
  
The closet door started to open revealing one of the most beautiful women Jon had ever seen.  
Big, blue doe eyes, long red hair and curves for days under a little green dress.  
For a wild moment he imagined someone in the network had sent her here to seduce him.  
  
She could probably take him out while he was on his knees gratefully devouring her cunt.  
At least he'd die happy.  
  
She looked frightened. He didnt expect that. Her breathing was shallow and he could see her pulse hammering in her throat. Definitely not a professional. Good.  
He'd use that to his advantage.  
He truly didn't want to kill her if he didn't have to.  
  
He expected her to plead, to try and reason with him, to bargain with him.  
He did not expect to get his ass kicked.  
  
It was the weird little laugh that unnerved him.  
He roughed her up, deliberately took liberties with the pat down and came damn close to choking her out.  
Better that she leave hurt and scared than dead.  
  
And then she laughed.  
  
Everything after that was a bit of a blur.  
  
He was dizzy, bleeding, his toes and knee hurt like hell. And she was already gone.  
  
A sudden pounding on the door brought him out of his daze.  
  
"Sir! Hotel security. Is everything alright?"  
  
Jon sighed. "Just a second," he called out as he forced himself off the bed, and hobbled to the door.  
  
He opened the door to three concerned looking security officers and a paramedic.  
Interesting.  
She called someone and told them he was injured but apparently not that he was a contract killer or that he choked her?   
Who the hell was this woman?  
  
An hour later, Jon was in a new (complimentary) room with a bandaged arm and the hotel's deepest apology for the attempted burglary of his previous room.  
Jon opened a whisky from the bar and set the woman's little suitcase on the table in front of him.  
  
He unzipped the bag to find a clear zippered pouch full of toiletries (mid range brands, cruelty free), a set of very sexy sky blue bra and panties with matching garter belt and white stockings (all with the tags still on), two sets of plain white cotton panties, a little blue dress, a pair of jeans, a t-shirt declaring "Geology Rocks!" and small plastic photo frame with a picture of the mystery woman and a huge wolf dog with a pink bow around its neck giving the camera a big, goofy doggie grin.  
  
And lying at the bottom of the bag, was the jackpot.  
A small plastic pink case for her birth control pills with her name and address neatly typed on the pharmacy label from Wintertown Drugstore.  
  
He looked at the smiling woman in the photo and ran his finger gently over her cheek. "Hello Sansa Stark," he whispered. .  
  
*******************  
  
Sansa paced outside the airport taxi drop off, chewing her thumb nail while she waited for Jeyne to call her back.  
  
She felt the vibration and touched the screen of her phone to accept the call.  
  
"His name is Robert Waters. He's here for vacation from Kings Landing. And Sansa...he's got your bag," Jeyne whispered furiously.  
  
Sansa felt her stomach turn. Well, that was all bullshit obviously. The man had called him Jon. And she'd bet a million gold dragons that he was as Northern as she was. She subconsciously slid her hand up to her neck. Bruises had already begun forming.  
  
She had not told Jeyne about Jon's visitor. She only said he was angry about finding her hiding in his closet and a physical altercation occurred.  
  
"Sansa, fuck this guy. Let me call the police..."  
  
"Jeyne, no, please don't. No cops. I'm okay and I don't want you to get into any trouble."   
  
"No! Sansa?! He assaulted you! I don't care about trouble! You need to press charges..."  
  
"Jeyne, no. I appreciate it. But I really just want to forget the whole mess. Just my luck. Try to seduce my guy and wind up in an actual fight with a grumpy asshole," Sansa was trying to make a joke but her voice broke at the end.  
"Oh sweetie, please..."Jeyne said softly.  
  
Sansa had to stop this before she started crying. "It's okay Jeyne. I need to go. I'll call you later, okay? Love you."  
  
She sat down on a bench and tried to process what an epic shitshow her life had become in the past two hours.  
  
Jon or Robert or whoever he was going to kill someone tonight.  
  
All she knew was that a guy named Arlen was going to a birthday party tonight while his wife, mother, lover, daughter or someone female in his life was bring killed at his request.  
  
She had to do something. She had to. She couldn't save the world but maybe she could save one person.  
Calling the cops was sensible. And would likely get her killed before they caught this boob fondling homicidal maniac.

With little else to do, she called the shadiest person she knew.  


Arya answered cheerfully on the fourth ring.  
"What's up, slut? Marg told me you were in White Harbor for some Vitamin D. Bow chicka wow wow..."  


"Arya! Shut up and listen. I went in the wrong room and got molested by a guy I'm pretty sure is an actual hitman. I kicked his ass and ran like hell but he's got my carry on bag with my birth control pills. What should I do?"  


There was dead silence for the longest ten seconds of Sansa's life.  


"Arya?!"  
"Are you high? Because you need to hook a bitch up..."  


"No, I am not high. Jeyne gave me the wrong room key. I hid in the closet because the guy came in. I overhead...things. I'm really scared. Ayra, please..."  


"Okay. Fuck. What do you need, Sansy Pants?"  


" I want to save the victim. I know it's crazy but I have to try. And then I'm outta here. I'll figure it all out later. No cops. I need information. Do you still have the hacker friend?"  


"Lommy, yeah. And he owes me one. What do you know?"  


"The bad guy is late 20's maybe, dark curly hair, beard, average height, fit, grey eyes, Northern accent. Goes by Robert Waters from Kings Landing but the guy he met with called him Jon. The victim...I have no idea. Can you send me a list of every forty-ish year old man named Arlen with a son in White Harbor? They are going to a birthday party tonight if that helps."  


Arya blew out a breath.  
  
"Yeah. I'm on it. Where are you now?"  
  
"Airport," she replied on the verge of tears.  
  
"Okay Sans. Get out of there. Too obvious you'd go there and two many cameras. Turn off your phone now. Go someplace quiet. No security cameras. Buy a burner phone. Give me an hour then call me. And...be careful. ," Arya said quietly.  


Sansa ended the call and powered off her phone. If Arya was worried, she really was screwed.


	4. Chapter 4

Sansa couldn't be still.  
She decided it was time to learn how to shoot a gun.  
She might have to in a few hours.  
Her stomach turned at the thought but she asked the taxi to take her to the closest range. 

*****************  
"Okay. Well you didn't actually hit the target but at least you stopped screaming every time you fired. That's something," the very kind old man at the shooting range told her after a thirty minute lesson on gun safety and forty five minutes of shooting.  
"Yeah," Sansa replied glumly as she handed him her goggles and took out her ear plugs. 

So guns were out. (She was actually a little relieved.)  
'Maybe a crossbow?' She thought, eyeing the shop display. 

"Is someone threatening you, honey?" the kind old man asked while gently leading her away from the display of crossbows. 

"Yes," she said softly. 

"Have you contacted law enforcement? You should consider it if you haven't already," he said, looking at her with such gentle fatherly concern that she almost hugged him. 

"I can't," she said, shaking her head. 

Hopeless. This was utterly hopeless. 

The old man sighed as he walked around the counter and reached under the register.  
"This is a taser. I'll show you how to use it. It won't kill a healthy man but it will buy you some time to get away." 

Sansa's eyes lit up. 

"But you have to promise if you end up using it, you'll run to safety and call the police," he said sternly. 

Fifteen minutes later, Sansa walked out of the gun shop with her new taser and called Arya on the burner phone she picked up from a gas station. 

"Arya, its me. Anything?"  
"Sansa. His name is Jon Snow. Grew up in foster care after his mom died.. Got sent to Castle Black Reformatory at 15. Worked for the Targaryens. They call him The White Wolf. It...uh... says he died two years. Nothing on him since then." 

Sansa cleared her throat. Shit. "Maybe this is a different guy?" She asked weakly. 

"I'll text you a mug shot from his Castle Black days. Hang on." 

Sansa clicked on the pic.  
Yep. That was him. Definitely him.  
He was older now and had a scar above one eye since this mug shot photo was taken but it was definitely him. 

"Yeah, that's him," Sansa whispered. 

"Sansa. Listen to me. You gotta go. I know you want to help the lady he's after but you need to save yourself. This guy has a bad reputation. He doesn't leave loose ends." 

"Do you know who the lady is? The one he's supposed to..." Sansa asked. 

"I think it's possibly a Rosaleigh Belanger. There's an Arlen and Rosaleigh Belanger in a nasty custody battle over their son. The son posted about going to his uncle's birthday party tonight." 

"Address?" 

"No. I'm not telling you. Get out of there. You can't save her Sans. I'm sorry. I'm wiring you some money. You can't use credit cards. Where are you now? 

"Harbor Boulevard and Fifth," Sansa couldn't stop the tears anymore. 

"Listen, Sansa. Go to the Kings Gas Station on Fifth. There's a Westeros Union there. Get the cash. Get on the next ferry out. I mean it. Be smart. Be safe. Call me later. I...I love you. Dumbass," Arya said, not unkindly. 

That's exactly what she should do. Arya is right. 

Sansa switched on her mobile and searched for Rosaleigh Belanger. 

*********************** 

Jon was half way in love with the lovely and wholesome Ms. Sansa Stark.  
She was a nice, normal woman. No dark secrets. (Fascinating.)  
Wintertown native.  
Three brothers, one sister, parents still happily married.  
High school GPA of 4.0. College GPA 4.0, volunteer work with Make A Wish and The Special Olympics.  
Twenty five years old. Pediatric nurse at Wintertown General. Very complimentary work reviews.  
Active social media.  
Two sexual relationships.  
One with Harold Hardying (who was currently in Room 1085 badly fucking a fellow pharmaceutical rep named Saffron) and one sexual relationship with Willas Tyrrell of High Garden.  
And most relevant, friends with one Jeyne Westerling, former girlfriend of her older brother Robb and current junior concierge at this very hotel.  
She had no connection to Arlen or Rosaleigh Belanger.  
She also had no connection to the Targaryens or the network or the Westerosi Investigation Bureau. 

Jon was not a believer in coincidences.  
However he saw nothing in the impressively extensive file on Sansa Stark that would explain what the hell she was doing in his room other than it being an honest mistake. 

Jon concludes, she was here to meet Hardying and her friend Jeyne gave her the wrong room key. 

Poor girl.  
It was a shame but she was in it now.. He didn't like loose ends. He wishes he had met Ms. Stark two years ago. When he had a chance to maybe have a normal life. 

Dany had arranged his "death" two years ago.  
  
Everything was set.  
Photo "proof" taken with a corpse of similar height, weight and features.  
DNA run on his actual DNA for the autopsy.  
He planned to fly off into the sunset in Dany's private jet. 

Dany had saved him and damned him. She came looking for him at Castle Black. Rescued him. Gave him a family for the first time in his life. And she made him a killer. 

He "handled" problems for the Targayren crime syndicate for ten years.  
He was good at it.  
Almost killing the kid changed everything.  
He was handling a former accountant who was about to turn state's evidence over on the Targaryen's gun running operation.  
Jon was sent to permanently shut him up. Quietly, quickly, efficiently. Like he always did. 

The kid startled him. The accountant's family was supposed to be out of town.  
He was injecting the accountant with insulin when his kid suddenly popped up from under the bed and said "What are you doing to my daddy?" 

Jon calmly told her he was giving her daddy medicine. And she needed it too. He injected the kid. Not enough to kill her but enough to fuck her up. She lived, barely, with no clear memory of the night her daddy died. 

Dany found him two days later, strung out on whisky and pills.  
He handed her his gun and asked her to just let him go. 

Dany decided to "kill" him on paper and send him to Naath. 

He was at the airport when he felt the cold steel barrel of a gun at the base of his neck.  
"Welcome back from the dead, White Wolf. You work for the network now."  
He recognized the voice. 

"No kids, Tormund. Ever." Jon said. 

"Fine. You pick the jobs. We take 30 percent. I'll contact you soon." 

Jon waited a few seconds to turn and look at Dany's jet on the tarmac. And then he walked away.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more for today and then it'll slow up. I promise! Lol
> 
> When the pieces of the story come at me I feel like I have to get it written and posted RIGHT HECKIN NOW! 
> 
> But since I'll be back to the real world tomorrow,...pbbblllt.
> 
> THANK YOU to every one who has read and commented. It means more than you know. ❤

Sansa boarded the bus to take her to Rosaleigh Belanger's house.  
She would just give the woman a warning and then she'd come back to the docks and get on a ferry. 

She was scrolling through Rosaleigh's social media on the burner phone trying to find anything she could to understand why her soon to be ex husband would want to kill her.  
People get divorced every day. Parents share custody every day.  
'What the actual hell, Arlen?' she thought. 

Her regular mobile chirped to notify her someone was calling.  
Shit. She forgot to turn it off.  
It was an unknown number.  
Sansa's hands began shaking as she swiped to accept the call.  
"Hello," she whispered.  
"Hello Sansa Stark." 

It was him. The Big Bad White Wolf.  
She was going to throw up. 

"How did you get my number?" she blurted. 

He chuckled "You're very sweet. Now, stop running. It won't help. I'll find you. Come meet me for coffee." 

"No thank you," Sansa said primly. 

He barked out a laugh. "Sansa. I wasn't asking. Meet me at 4 at Cup of Joe on 7th and Sea View. We can sit outside. You'll be safe. I promise." 

"I have a taser now," she said in her meanest voice. 

She could hear the smile in his voice when he replied "Then I will be on my best behavior. See you at 4. And Sansa, do not try to run. It won't end well for you." 

The call ended.

"It won't end well for you," she mimicked in a deep, Northern brogue. Then stuck out her tongue at her phone. Jerk.  
She frantically looked around to make sure no one on the bus saw or heard her. 

She had an hour and a half to convince Rosaleigh to get out of town and then she'd either meet Big Bad Wolf or run like hell. 

******************************** 

Rosaleigh Belanger was a mess. She was high as a kite at 2:15 in the afternoon.  
Sansa couldn't get a word in edgewise as they sat on Rosaleigh's back patio.  
She hadn't even had to use her excuse of being the sister of an old college friend to gain entry to the house. 

Finally Sansa stood up and slapped the other woman across the face.  
"You are going to die if you don't shut up and listen to me. Someone is coming here tonight to kill you," Sansa snapped. 

Rosaleigh began crying. 

Sansa felt like joining her. But instead, she sighed, rubbed her temples and tried a softer approach.  
"Can you think of any reason why your ex might want to hurt you?" 

"He's such an asshole! I don't need rehab. I need these pills. They are prescribed for back pain. Arlen is a bastard. He wants to take everything away from me. I told him he could have my baby over my cold, dead bod...oh," Rosaleigh suddenly sobered. 

"So, I'm thinking an overdose wouldn't be a huge shock to your family and friends then?" 

Rosaleigh sat staring at Sansa in shock. 

"Look, from what I understand there's no stopping this train. I don't have any actual proof to take to the authorities but I promise you, its true." 

"What do I do now?"

Sansa sighed. " I think the only prayer you have is to tell Arlen you've decided to go to rehab today. And then actually go. I know a couple nurses who work in centers. I can make some calls. Go take a shower and pack a bag." 

Rosaleigh nods and heads back into the house. 

Sansa powers on her regular phone and makes the calls. It takes twenty minutes but with arrangements made she enters the house and calls out for Rosaleigh.  
No answer.  
Every single hair on her body stands on end.  
She races through the house calling Rosaleigh's name frantically. 

She finds her, in the tub, under the water. Already turning cold. No pulse.  
Sansa clamps her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming.  
She sits on the closed toilet lid with a thud and finally has a good cry.  
She reaches in her purse for the burner phone to call the police when her regular phone chimes with a text notification. 

The message reads: I don't like loose ends. See you at 4.


	6. Chapter 6

Sansa stood outside Cup of Joe at 3:55 pm, nauseated and pissed off.  
She didn’t want coffee. She wanted alcohol. And lots of it.  
She stomped across the street to The Mermaid’s Tail Bar and Grille. 

It was surprisingly dim inside which suited Sansa just fine.  
She plopped her purse on the bar and glared at the bartender.

“Rough day?” he asked with raised eyebrows. 

“The roughest,” she said with a frown. “What is your most intimidating liquor?”  
The bartender looked at her, bemused. “Uh, Dragon Fire whisky,” he said with a shrug.

“Give me that. Make it a double,” she nodded to herself as she climbed onto the bar stool.  
She really hated whisky. Why couldn’t there be something scary but also nice like a Lemon Drop Martini of Mayhem or maybe an Ass Kicker Peach Bellini?

“Coming right up,” the bar tender said with a grin.  
He poured the whisky and set the glass in front of her. 

Sansa looked him in the eyes as she raised the glass, toasted him and took a sip.  
And immediately started coughing.  
“What the hell is this? Paint thinner? Oh gods, it burns,” she wheezed.

She jumped when a large hand slid gently down her back and The Big Bad Wolf quietly asked her “Are you done being tough now?” 

“No, I am not,” she snapped. 

He perched himself on the stool next to her and regarded her with a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth. He reached past her, took her glass of what was clearly demon piss, toasted her with it and then casually downed the rest of it in one go without so much as a flinch. 

Sansa rolled her watery eyes and blew out a disgusted breath. “Show off.” 

He laughed and then said “We're going back across the street and get coffee. We need to talk, sweetheart.” 

Sansa stared at him appalled. Sweetheart?  
“Sweetheart?! Don’t you dare call me sweetheart,” she hissed. “I’m not going anywhere. I am just fine right here,” she stared at him defiantly and wiggled her butt on the bar stool for emphasis. 

Jon sighed as he threw some bills onto the bar, picked up her purse and stood and gripped her arm firmly. “I wasn’t asking,” he said softly. “Thank the man for your drink and start walking.” 

**********************

The coffee shop seemed busy for four o’clock in the afternoon on a Wednesday.  
That was good. Surely he wouldn't try to kill her in front of all of these witnesses.  


He settled her into a chair on the patio and disappeared inside to place their orders. He did not ask her what she wanted.  
Jerk.  
Sansa took the burner phone out of her purse and texted Arya.  
  
S: So now I’m having coffee with The Big Bag Wolf. He wants to talk.  
A: WTF?!?! I thought you were on a fucking ferry out of there!  
S: I had to try to save her. You know that.  
A: Shit  
S: Yep  
S: Pray 

He appeared in front of her at the table, setting down a pumpkin spice latte for her and a large cup of black coffee for himself.  
She briefly contemplated throwing that latte in his smug face just for the satisfaction of watching it drip down his beard.  
“Stereotype much?” she snapped. 

He raised his eyebrows and then took out a phone and began scrolling.  
After a minute he swung the phone screen around and she saw a photo of herself from IG, gleefully clutching a pumpkin spice latte with the caption “Pumpkin Spice is my new blood type, Y’all! #thatswhatsup #spicespicebaby #nevergonnagiveyouup"

She frowned at him. What an asshole. It was really unbelievable.  
“So now you’re stalking my social media? That’s rude and frankly, creepy,” she sniped. 

“I find you interesting,” he shrugged, unapologetic.  
Then he leaned forward across the table to quietly say “I like learning about your life. For instance, you went to dinner with Ramsey Bolton three years ago, right before he disappeared. You should thank me. Did you know he liked to hunt women with his dogs on his father’s estate? He raped and killed three women before his father knew what was happening. In fact, his father paid me a lot of money to make sure it stopped, one way or another. He wasn’t really concerned with how,” Jon said as casually as if they were discussing the weather. 

Sansa felt the nausea return and she pushed the latte away. “Why? Why do you do it? Rosaleigh was not like that. How did you get to her? I was there! I was there and I couldn't save her from you." Sansa whispered hoarsely, wiping at tears that were suddenly spilling down her cheeks. 

“I was already in the house, Sansa. You left your mobile on. I was tracking your location. I knew where you were heading. I beat you there. She had left the patio door unlocked. I walked in and waited in a spare bedroom. She was passed out on the couch until you knocked on the door," he watched her as he took a sip of his coffee. He exhaled a breath and set his coffee down. "I need you for a job. And then we can go our separate ways."

Sansa blanched. “No. Absolutely not. I am not helping you…take care…of anything, you bast…”

“Careful,” he warned. “You will help me. You will do exactly as I say. Once the job is done, you can return to Wintertown and go back to your life. But hopefully not with Haryding. Just as an FYI, he fucked another woman in his room last night. He has no imagination. I think you deserve better.” 

Sansa’s back hit the chair as she recoiled. Then she snorted. "Fucking Harry. This whole mess is because I wanted to spice things up with Harry. What an ass!" 

"Yeah," Jon agreed. 

"Why on earth do you need my help with anything though? " she asked, genuinely perplexed. 

“I need you to be my wife,” he said, watching her carefully. 

She barked out an incredulous laugh. “Wow. I thought you’d never ask! What are you talking about?”  
She shook her head and reached for the cursed latte.  
She took a long sip and it dawned on her. 

“You really don’t want to kill me, do you? So you’ll settle for making me culpable in one of your jobs. Is that it? Then I likely won't turn you in to the authorities without implicating myself and blowing my life up?” 

“Yes,” he said simply with a shrug. 

Sansa gritted her teeth and shook her head in frustration. 

“If I do this,” she said through clenched teeth, “If I help you, you’ll leave me and my family and my friends alone?” 

“I will,” he replied. 

“I’m not killing anyone,” she hissed.

“I’m not asking you to. I just need you to play the part of my wife. My target is at a couple’s retreat weekend. I need a wife to be there,” he replied, his eyes drifting down to her lips. 

“And then I’m really done?” she asked.

“Yes, then you’re done. You have my word. You have to behave though. Do exactly what I say. No exceptions. And if you try to run from me, I will come after you with everything I’ve got. Do you understand?” 

“Yes. I understand. And yes, I’ll do it,” she replied.


	7. Chapter 7

Jon was pleasantly surprised she agreed to cooperate so quickly. He honestly didn’t want to hurt her any more than he already had.  
He couldn’t just let her go though. 

Things were too far gone for that. Taking her to this job and involving her in it was the only compromise he could come up with on the fly.  
He could have called in one of the women or men the network routinely contracted for situations like this.  
But he didn’t want to.  
He really wanted to spend some time with Sansa. He didn’t know any women like her. Caring, kind, warm, funny, smart and charming. Loving and beloved. Innocent. 

He wanted to feel what it was like to be a normal guy, with a normal heart, spending time with a normal woman. Just once. 

He had plenty of one night stands and short flings. But never a real relationship. It was better that way considering his line of work.  
And speaking of normal relationships, Sansa had not been happy that he already had a bag packed for her in the SUV he had rented. 

“How did you know I’d agree?” she asked him with little lines creasing the skin between her eyebrows. He already knew that was her expression when she was annoyed.  
“You’re smart and I'm persuasive,” he shrugged. 

She had gritted her teeth and yanked the passenger side door open without another word. 

He made things worse by telling her as much as he personally liked her “Geology Rocks!” t-shirt, this was an upscale resort and they were playing a wealthy couple so she needed new clothes.  
She glared at him and then turned to look out the window. 

He took a breath and told her they were Michael and Sabrina Sand of Sunspear. Married four years. No kids (yet). He was a lawyer; she was a homemaker. 

As he finished telling her the basic details, he glanced over to Sansa in the passenger seat.

She was staring out the window, body turned away from him, one hand pressed to her mouth. That wouldn’t do. They’d be at the resort in an hour. He had to get her to relax. They had to be believable.  
He reached over and placed his hand on her knee.

Boy could she scream. Her knees banged into the dashboard and her arms flailed wildly as she jumped. 

“Hey, hey. Calm down. If we’re going to pull off being married you can’t jump and scream every time I touch you,” he said gently. 

She twisted in the seat to stare at him with one her hand over her heart. “Well, perhaps we are one of those couples making a halfhearted effort to reconcile before our inevitable contentious divorce?” she said sweetly.  
  
“Nope! We are very happily married. We just like to occasionally indulge in group sex with other couples at swinger's retreats,” he said with a shrug.  
“What?! What are you saying?! You have got to be kidding me! I’m not… No!” she sputtered furiously.  
He bit down on his lip to keep from laughing. “Relax, I’m joking. But we will absolutely be a happily married couple. So you have to stop jumping when I touch you.” 

She pulled her sunglasses down to peer at him with those amazing blue eyes. “Stop joking. I’m too stressed out for jokes. Fine. I will do my best to stop jumping. And screaming. But let’s keep the touching rated PG,” she said and then narrowed her eyes at him like an angry cat before pushing her sunglasses back up her nose and turning back to look out her window.  
He smiled.  
************************  
“Welcome to our annual Get In Touch Couple’s Retreat Mr. and Mrs. Sand. We’re so glad you could join us,” the perky receptionist greeted them in the lobby of the elegant resort.  
Sansa smiled blandly and took a look around the reception area. “Thank you. Um, what’s the Wi-Fi password?” 

“Oh no, no Mrs. Sand! This is an electronics free weekend,” chirped the receptionist. “In fact, I have to take your phones and lock them in the safe,” she smiled at Sansa and held out her hand. 

Jon powered down his phone and handed it over. Then he turned to Sansa, barely suppressing a laugh as she glared at him.  
It took the receptionist three tries to finally pull the phone out of Sansa’s hand. That was fine. She still had the burner phone. No big deal.

“I threw away your burner phone at the last gas station,” Jon leaned over and whispered to her as he ran his hand up and down her back.  
Shit! 

She could barely contain her outrage as she stared at him. His lips twitched. 

“I’m ready to see our room now, honey,” Sansa turns her body towards him and slips her hands under his jacket before poking his side viciously.  
Jon grunts and smiles back at her tightly. “Then, let’s go see it, sweetheart. I can’t wait to get you alone.” 

'Crap', Sansa thought forlornly. If this were real, that might have been exciting in a sexy way. Not so much with a hired killer. 

“Oh! You two are just the cutest!” squeals the receptionist. “Room 14. Thomas will see to your bags. Have fun and let me know if there is anything you need.” 

“Oh I have everything I’ve ever needed right here,” Jon replies, looking at Sansa, smiling softly, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. 

For a split second, and only for a split second, Sansa honestly believed he meant it.  
And the ice around her traitorous heart began to crack just a little before she snapped herself back to reality.  
She was in way over her head. He could twist her up like a pretzel if she wasn't careful. 

She would have to be very careful this weekend. Guard her heart. Remember who he was at all times.  
She would do what he asked and only what he asked.  
And then she was going home.  
She would have to figure out a way to live with herself after this.  
She feared that would be the hardest part of all.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And there was only one bed...  
> Lol  
> I'm not even sorry.

Of course Room 14 only had one bed. 

Granted it was a big bed, but that wasn't the point.  
Sansa stood in the doorway of this beautiful room with its high ceilings, lovingly restored antique furnishings and gorgeous view of the lake and glared at that bed. 

Under different circumstances she would have primly asked Thomas the bellman to make arrangements for her to have her own room.  
However, Chatty Thomas was currently gushing over all twenty rooms being booked for this couples retreat as he brought in their bags.  
So no dice on a separate room, Sansa thought glumly. Fine. It would behoove her not to piss off the hitman anyway. 

Jon was already shrugging out of his jacket as he walked over to the window to see the view.  
She considered making a run at him and shoving him through the window but they were only on the second floor.  
She was pretty sure she wouldn't accomplish much more than pissing him off and maybe breaking his leg. 

As she really didn't want to live in fear of the sound of murderous crutch thumps around every corner for the next few months, she wandered around the room. 

Jon deftly tipped Chatty Thomas and pushed the door closed. 

"We have an hour until dinner," Jon told her as he opened the minibar and took out a bag of pretzels. 

Clearly he was insane. Pretzels? From the minibar. Not even fancy pretzels. Regular pretzels. Sansa felt her frugal heart breaking. 

Jon looked up at her, mouth full of pretzels. "What?" 

She marched over to the minibar and snatched up the price list. Well, Jon was certainly not the only criminal here.  
"Fifteen gold for those pretzels," she informed him gravely. 

Jon snorted, barely holding back spewing pretzel crumbs. 

"You need to relax, Sansa. We aren't splitting the room bill. It's fine. Go take a shower," he said soothingly. 

"Okay. I think I will take advantage of this bad boy" she said cheerfully upon seeing the huge walk in shower and comfy looking robes. 

"Good idea," he replied, stretching out on the one bed. 

******************* 

Sansa would swear to anyone who would listen that the heavens opened up and the gods blessed this bathroom personally. 

The shower gel, the shampoo, the conditioner, oh my!  
At seventy five gold dragons each, she'd never buy any of it for herself.  
But for now, she smelled delicious. 

She was rinsing the shampoo out of her hair when the bathroom door opened. 

She slammed one arm across her chest and one hand reflexively starfished over her crotch.  
She sputtered and squinted against the shampoo running down her face. "Are you freaking kidding me?! Get out!" 

"You were taking too long." 

"Get out! Get out! Get out!" 

"No. Stop shrieking and hurry up. I need to shower too." 

Fuming, she quickly finished rinsing her hair as best she could while covering her essential bits and turned off the water. She stuck her head out of the steamy shower door to find he was leaning against the sink, unapologetically watching her. 

Scowling, she snatched a towel from the rack, secured it around herself and flung open the shower door. 

He was pulling his shirt over his head. 

To her abject horror, he was built like a brick house.  
"Yurghk!"  
To be fair, that was the only appropriate response she could have made as a red blooded heterosexual woman. 

Sansa had seen plenty of bodies, in her own humble opinion, between her practically feral siblings, Willas and Harry, her nurse training, that one time Marg talked her into going to a nude beach and the occasional guilty peeks at porn website thumbnails.  
But Jon left her completely flummoxed. 

'Who the hell actually has abs like that in real life?' she thought, irrationally angry at him for having the most beautiful torso she had ever seen in real life. Such a jerk, this guy. 

She felt the tell tale heat of sexual interest flooding down her body.  
Oh no.  
"Do you mind?" she snapped. Anger. Yes. Definitely better than horndogging the criminal. 

He was still leaning against the sink counter, arms crossed, watching her with that infuriating half smile. Then he reached down and started unbuttoning his pants. 

"Sansa. The human body is nothing to be embarrassed about..." 

"Oh go to hell," she snapped, stomping out of the bathroom with as much dignity as she could muster in a bath towel. 

Jon snickered to himself as he finished undressing and stepped into the shower.  
She was interested. He saw her pulse fluttering in her throat, pupils dilating, that lovely blush. Plus that weird sound she made.  
He had to be careful not to push her too far too fast but she was definitely interested.  
That was enough for right now.  
He needed her to be the one to make the choice. 

He knew this was a shit situation for her. And though he had questionable morals at best, he never crossed that line with a woman. And never intended to. 

If she didn't want him to ever touch her (and he wouldn't blame her considering how they originally met), that was fine. 

But if she was receptive, he would do anything she allowed him to do. Gratefully and reverently.


	9. Chapter 9

Sansa was dressed for dinner and ready to go.  
She grudgingly had to admit the outfits Jon provided for her were lovely. And expensive.  
The lingerie was a bit much though. 

She had a brief flash of imagining his hands touching the scraps of silk that were touching her most intimate bits and she shuddered.  
She knew realistically he probably had some sort of professional shopper on standby and hadn’t even seen, much less touched, any of the clothing.  
But her mind went there anyway. 

She shook herself and stared at her reflection in the mirror.  
Yes, he was attractive.  
Yes, he was obviously smart.  
And okay, maybe she secretly didn’t mind how firm he was with her (when he wasn’t being a scary asshole.)

But…he was a killer.  
He killed people.  
While she devoted her life, her mind and her heart to saving people.  
It genuinely hurt when a patient didn’t survive.  
He got a proverbial pat on the back and wad of cash when people didn’t survive.

The reality was that this could never be anything other than blackmail on his part and folly on hers. 

She sighed and sat on the cursed bed. 

He was sitting on the couch, texting away on his own burner phone. (Such an asshole.)

“Could I text my sister and let her know I’m alive, please?” 

“I already texted her for you,” he said smiling at her. 

“What did you say?!” she gasped and rushed toward him. 

“I just said ‘Hey. I’m fine. I’ll call you in a couple of days. Love Sansa,” he shrugged.

Sansa snorted. “And what did she say?” 

He pulled up the text. “She said ‘I know this isn’t Sansa, asshole. If you’ve hurt her I will find you and have your balls cut off, bronzed and on my coffee table within 48 hours.’ ” he chuckled. “I like her.” 

She really needed to buy Arya a nice gift. Maybe those purple Doc Martens she kept eyeballing online?

“I’m guessing you won’t let me borrow your phone then….” 

“No. It’s time to head down,” he said, standing up. 

Sansa walked toward the door and heard him open the closet door containing the room safe.  
She turned and tried to watch but his back was blocking her view. 

She could, however, hear four distinct beeps as he entered the code to open the safe.  
She closed her eyes and did her best to commit the tones to her memory.  
The first chance she got, she was getting into that safe and getting that phone. 

She turned back toward the door to the room and lost in concentration, and jumped when she felt his hand on the small of her back.

He leaned in close and whispered “I thought you were working on not jumping when I touch you.” 

He smelled amazing. Damn him. She laughed nervously “It’s a process. At least I didn’t scream, right?” 

He grinned at her as he held open the door.  
And off they went to dinner. 

*************************

Unfortunately, it wasn’t just dinner at awaited them in Dining Room 2.  
It was their first couple’s exercise. 

According to the retreat leader, famed couple’s therapist Dr. Martha Redstone, before the main entrée was served, they would all spend ten minutes staring into each other’s eyes and then give each other three sincere compliments. 

Sansa chugged her glass of Arbor Gold and avoided eye contact with Jon. 

She barely stopped herself from yelping when she felt her chair being pulled around so that she faced him. 

“I don’t think I …” she began to whisper. 

“No talking. This is the staring part,” he interrupted her. 

She tapped her fingers against her thighs as her eyes flickered around, looking anywhere except his face.

He finally took hold of her chin and leaned toward her. 

“Stop fidgeting. Look at me. Breathe.” 

Fine. She could look at his stupid, handsome face for ten minutes. 

He gazed at her, she glared at him. 

She saw his lips twitch. 

And he saw that temper of hers flare up as a blush began blooming across her chest and up her neck.  
She had a scarf on but there was one angry bruise peeking out at him.  
His stomach clenched.  
He rarely felt remorse. Not that he wasn’t capable of feeling it. He was just secretly afraid if he let it in, it would wash him away.

He did feel remorse looking at that bruise on her neck though.  
And he didn’t know what to do about it. 

She was lovely. And she made him laugh more in the past day than he probably had in the past fifteen years.  
He knew she was tougher than she realized. (His knee was still sore from this morning’s ass kicking.)  
But he also knew she wouldn’t strike out to hurt him again unless she felt she had no other choice. 

This mess they were in, all because of a well-meaning friend’s simple mistake, was unfortunate for her but a godsend for him. 

He had tonight and two more too short days to let her peel back some of the hardness he had built up around himself. 

He was scared and exhilarated and so pathetically hopeful that it made him a little angry at himself. 

She must have seen the flash of anger because her eyes widened and she moved back a little in her chair. 

He couldn’t have that. He reached out blindly, never breaking eye contact with her and gently picked her hands up from her lap.  
He felt a jolt of electricity when he touched her.  
And he thinks she felt it too.  
She flinched when their skin made contact but then her lips parted and her gaze softened.  
He began rubbing small, soothing circles into her palms and she shivered. 

The spell was broken by Dr. Redstone clapping her hands and giddily announcing “Time is up! Please take turns sharing your compliments to each other!” 

Jon continued holding her hands as they stared at each other.  
Sansa looked like a deer in headlights. 

“I’ll go first,” he offered.  
She nodded frantically.

“You are a beautiful person. Inside and out. You have made me laugh more than anyone else has in my entire life even when you’re mad at me. And…I know it can’t be…but gods, I wish it could,” he told her softly.

Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. 

Sansa took a deep breath.  
“Obviously you’re very smart. That’s good,” She took another breath. “Um, you seem to be a very safe driver.”  
He started to frown.

She leaned closer and whispered. “I hate your job. I hate it. I don’t understand it and I can’t condone it. But I…don’t actually hate you. I hope you know that. I believe you have goodness in your heart. I believe people can change. That people can make different choices. There is always hope. Always,” she said fiercely. 

Her hands were trembling in his soft grasp.  
He looked as though he had been struck.  
He inhaled sharply, tightened his grip on her hands and stared at her with an expression she couldn’t name.

Flustered and not able to control her anxiety, she quickly leaned back and whispered “And I guess you’re okay looking. I hadn’t really noticed,” she said with a shrug. 

There, that made him smile.  
And him smiling made her smile.  
She enjoyed making him smile.  
Oh no. 

Dr. Redstone, gods bless her, interrupted Sansa’s existential crises to announce they would now break into groups, half with Dr. Redstone and half with her husband, also Dr. Redstone. 

Jon was not happy to be separated if his tightly clenched jaw was any indication.  
Too bad. 

She lingered in the hallway until Jon’s group was completely ushered into Conference Room 2B and most of her group was ushered to Conference Room 2A, she murmured to the woman next to her that she was going to get a sweater from her room. 

And she walked quickly toward Room 14. 

Her heart was pounding as she fumbled with the keycard. Once inside, she scurried over to the closet with the room safe.  
She kept humming the four tones she had heard Jon enter earlier and was finally successful on her third attempt.

She grinned in victory at the sight of the burner phone.  
There was also a photo in the safe with a small post-it note on the back. 

Sansa turned over the photo. Martha Redstone smiled up at her from a publicity still.  
On the small post-it note was written “50k dragons, natural, retreat” 

Sansa felt her dinner coming back up and barely made it into the bathroom in time. 

After a few minutes of being as sick as she had ever been, she shakily sat on the floor and called Arya.

“Sans! Fuck! Are you okay?” 

“No…. I mean yes, I’m alive and not hurt. But I am not okay,” Sansa whispered.

“Tell me where you are….”

“I don’t know. Some hotel in the middle of nowhere. There’s a retreat. Martha Redstone. Remember her from those books mom loves? He says he’ll let me leave on Monday. It’ll be over then.” 

“Bullshit. Fuck that guy. Sans, listen to me. I have a plan. if you get a chance to run, I can help you. Lommy can create a new identity on the web and Gendry is a boss at making fake id’s. And I have some money saved up….” 

“Arya, you will never know how much that means to me. And I’m not ruling anything out just yet but I am going to try to just get through this. I gotta go now. I’ll call again if I can. I love you.” 

She pressed End Call and sat on the bathroom floor, staring at nothing for a while. 

She had to get up and get moving though. It would not do to get caught outside of Conference Room 2A. 

She deleted the call from the log, powered off the phone, wiped it down with an antiseptic wipe and returned it along with the photo to the safe. Being very careful to put everything back exactly as she found it.

Then she punched in the code to lock the safe and closed the closet door. She raked her foot over the carpet to remove the imprints of her heels near the closet. 

She brushed her teeth, fixed her makeup and combed her hair as quickly as she could. 

Thankfully, the group sessions were still going. 

She had her hand on the door to Conference Room 2A when she was grabbed from behind.  
A large, calloused hand covered her mouth and she was spun around to face an extremely angry Jon Snow. 

“Where the fuck have you been?” he spit at her through clenched teeth. 

She stared at him. There he was. The Big, Bad White Wolf. 

As other couples started pouring out into the hallway, he reached out, cradled her face in his hands as he pulled her to him and kissed her. It was a hard, fierce kiss.  
As he pulled away, he took her bottom lip between his teeth and nipped, hard enough to sting but not enough to break the skin.  
She took it as a clear warning to keep her mouth shut. 

“Ah. Young love,” an older woman said and smiled at them as she passed by. 

Sansa was glad she had already thrown up her dinner as her stomach rolled. 

“Let’s go back to the room during the break, sweetheart. We have some things to talk about,” he said, taking her hand and pulling her toward the room. 

********************************

As soon as the door to Room 14 closed, Jon was in her face. 

“Where were you? Don’t even think about lying to me,” he growled. 

“I came back to the room, threw up, stared into space, grabbed my sweater and came back. I didn’t even see anyone else in the hallways, “she said softly.

“Bullshit! Where were you? Did you talk to anybody? I swear to all the gods Sansa…”

“I am telling you I came back to this room, threw up dinner and tried not to cry. And then I went right back down to the conference room! Is it so crazy after everything that has happened today that I might need a minute to myself?” 

And with that, Sansa turned her back to him and burst into tears. 

Jon closed his eyes and willed himself to calm down.  
He knew he had just undone any good will she had toward him. 

It had scared the shit out of him when the tracker in her necklace showed she was walking toward the room.  
Did someone in the network decide not to honor their deal?

After seeing she was still moving around the room 22 minutes later, he became infuriated. 

Was she trying to run?  
If she ran, men a lot worse than him would be coming after her.  
Him getting to her first would be blessing, even if she couldn’t comprehend that. 

When he absolutely couldn’t take it anymore, he entered the hallway and saw her trying to quietly open the door to Conference Room 2A. 

She had been coming back.  
Relief flooded him seeing that she was unhurt. 

But he lashed out anyway.  
He was not used to giving a shit. Not used to caring about anybody, not even himself, really.  
It scared him that he cared about her. It pissed him off too. She was going to walk away after Monday morning and go back to pumpkin spice lattes and goofy dogs and friends. He didn’t know how to be in her world but in this moment he truly hated everything about his life that made it impossible for him to even try.  
And it hadn’t even been 24 hours since he first saw her face. 

He pinched the skin between his eyebrows, sighed and walked over to her. 

She jumped when he put his hand on her upper back. Not that he blamed her. 

“I’m sorry, Sansa. I panicked. I got angry. I shouldn’t have scared you. I shouldn’t have touched you. I’m not used to having to worry about another person. I was worried you were trying to run or that the network decided not to honor our deal not to come after you,” he said softly. 

Sansa felt a chill race through her.  
“I thought me being here was just our deal. Me and you,” she whispered. 

He sighed and shook his head. He might as well tell her the truth.  
“No sweetheart. Everything I do on a job is monitored. You were on camera going into my room. And running back out. I had just found your name on your birth control pills when I got an email file with your entire life history. I told my contact that I was going to use you on this job and that I would personally handle you if you ran or if you talked. I didn’t know what else to do,” he huffed a humorless laugh. 

He put his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. “I’m a bad guy. I know that. But you need to understand that there are bigger, badder guys in the network that would love to take a crack at you. Please, baby. If you can just get through this weekend and keep your mouth shut, you will live. I will protect you. I promise,” he sat down on the edge of the bed and rested his head in his hands. 

To his shock, she pulled his hands away from his face and stepped between his legs. She looked into his eyes, searching for something.  
And then she kissed him.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Smut is hard y'all.
> 
> Ps: That's what she said.
> 
> Pps: I'll show myself out.

Sansa pressed her lips against his softly.  
She wasn't even sure why she did it.  
It just felt right. 

He sat stock still, not even breathing. 

Oh.  
Of course he wasn't interested in her like that.  
He probably had a throng of increasingly beautiful and exotic lovers, full of mystery and experience with men. Women who could stand waxing their bikini areas and who drank disgusting liquor without flinching and who didn't feel a little insecure that one of their boobs was slightly bigger than the other or that they had stretch marks on their hips. 

She felt foolish and so embarrassed 

"Jon, I..." she was going to apologize but strong hands clamped around her back and pulled her closer to him. 

She wasn't sure what to do so she began gently running her fingers through his hair.  
His hair was more coarse than she thought it would be and looking down she spied a few silver strands weaving their way through his inky curls. 

After a few minutes, she started to pull away but his grip across her back tightened. 

"Jon..." she began, not sure what to say but feeling the need to say something. 

"Stay with me, just like this. Just for a while, longer. Tell me about your family, your friends...anything," he whispered. 

She began combing her fingers through his hair again and told him the story of the how she and her siblings tried to sneak five puppies into the house, without their parents finding out. Her older brother found the puppies alone in the woods and couldn't stand to leave them there. The jig lasted for exactly eight minutes after their mom came home.  
Her brother Robb promised to be responsible for all of the puppies, her sister Arya threatened to run away with the puppies if they weren't allowed to keep them, Sansa prepared a PowerPoint presentation on how pets were good for children, her brother Bran drew a sweet comic book about their home from the perspective of the puppies and toddler Rickon just howled "awoo" and giggled in his tiny baby voice. (It was pretty adorable.) 

She could feel Jon smiling against her stomach as she told her story. She expected him to gently push her away at some point but he seemed to just snuggle in deeper. 

"Is that your puppy in the photo in your bag?" 

"Yep. That's Lady. She passed away peacefully a couple of years ago. I miss her every day" Sansa replied softly. 

Jon slowly began releasing his grip on her so she took a step back. 

To her surprise he stood up and began untying the scarf she had worn around her neck.  
She held herself still wondering what he was about to do. 

He pulled the scarf free and looked at her neck with a sad expression. 

"I'm so sorry that I hurt you," he whispered. 

He looked in her eyes as he slowly leaned forward. And when she didn't stop him, he began pressing gentle kisses along the bottom of her jaw and down her neck. 

She tilted her head back and arched her back as her body swayed toward him. 

The softness of lips and the coarseness of his beard against her skin was short circuiting her brain.  
She felt little ripples of pleasure running down her body like her blood was suddenly carbonated. 

She felt a bit unsteady and grabbed on to his shoulders. 

And then he was kissing her.  
There was no hesitancy. His mouth was on hers, sliding, plundering, teasing, tasting, nipping. He took her through a dance of changing angles, intensities and invasions that felt like the longest and most grown up kiss she had ever shared. 

She moaned in protest and swayed to chase him when he pulled slightly away from her and he released a shuddering breath. 

"I want you. Do you want me?" he asked her in a low, dark voice. 

She nodded. 

He pulled her to him and kissed her again as he pulled down the zipper on her dress. 

She reached for the buttons on his shirt and did her best to get a few undone despite her shaking hands. 

He pulled back from her to push her dress off of her shoulders and down to her hips before pulling her back in to kiss her again.

She didn't realize they were moving until her back hit the cold wall of their room. 

She moaned into his mouth and he moaned back. 

He lifted her hands above her head and held them there, pressing the length of his warm body against her front while the cold wall pressed against her back. 

It made her dizzy to feel such heat and such cold as he kissed her like that. 

Then suddenly he released her and dropped to his knees. 

She felt disoriented for a moment. 

His hands lost no time pulling her dress down her hips to pool at her ankles. He lifted one of her feet, pulled off her shoe and then other and flung her dress away. 

She started to cave in on herself a little, feeling too exposed in the well lit room in her sheer lingerie. 

He shook his head slowly back and forth at her. He had a wicked gleam in his eyes as he began kissing up one of her legs and sliding his hand up the other.  
He kissed her belly while his hands squeezed her ass, he kissed her neck as those clever hands moved around to gently knead her breasts, then his mouth met hers again. 

She gripped his hair and pulled him as close to her as possible, kissing him back with everything she had. 

She felt the clasp on her bra pop open then his hands were reaching for her ass again as he pulled her hips up. 

She wrapped her legs around him and moaned low and long. 

Not breaking their kiss, he walked them toward the bed with her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. 

He laid her down as gently as he could and straightened up.  
She lay sprawled on the bed, heavy lidded eyes, swollen lips, the pink flush of beard burn around her mouth, nosy nipples peeking at him from around the undone bra as her chest rose and fell with her rapid breaths, long legs restless, pupils dilated.  
She was a vision. A goddess. His undoing. 

He forced himself to slow down and take his time removing his cufflinks and unbuttoning the buttons she hadn't been able to reach earlier. 

He was giving her a chance to stop this if she wanted. 

As nice as the show he was putting on for her was, she was impatient. 

She surged up onto her knees and shucked off the bra before she attacked his belt buckle. 

He met her enthusiasm and almost ripped his shirt trying to pull it off. 

When his shirt was off and pants were unbelted, unbuttoned and unzipped, they each lunged in for another kiss. 

With their hands tangled in each others hair, their moans almost harmonized. 

He broke the kiss to bend forward to push his pants and boxers down while she pushed her panties down to her knees, then unceremoniously flopped on her back to wriggle out of them. 

By the time she was plucking the panties from around her ankle and preparing to fling them out of the way,, he was suddenly standing over her, naked and beautiful. 

Real humans did not look like him, she thought. He had some scars on his chest, one on his shoulder, one on his hip...but truly, he was glorious. 

Strong and sinewy, not an ounce of fluff. 

To her delight, he had a small treasure trail that lead to a surprisingly thick cock which stood proudly at attention. 

She was overcome by a boldness she hadn't ever felt before and she clamored onto her knees wrapped one hand around his neck and the other around his cock and kissed him fiercely. 

He gasped against her mouth and sunk his hands into her hair. 

He used his weight to propel her down onto her back as he released one arm to catch his weight.  
"I'm tested regularly. I know we should've talked about it before..." he said earnestly. 

"It's okay. I'm on the pill but I made Harry wear a condom every time,," she replied breathlessly. 

They smiled at each other for a second and then she lunged at him for another kiss. 

He broke the kiss and rolled her onto her belly, and quickly nipped at one of her butt cheeks. She squealed in delight and then gasped when he swatted the other cheek and rolled her back over. 

He slid his hands from her neck, over her breasts and then pulled her legs apart and got down between them on his belly.  
He ran his finger leisurely down her folds and then bent his head down and latched his mouth onto her clit.  
She gasped and grabbed onto his hair.  
To pull him off? To hold him there?  
She wasn't sure.  
After the fact, she couldn't say specifically what he did with his fingers and tongue but a few minutes later she would swear she saw the cosmos. 

When she regained her faculties, he was kissing his way up her belly. His hair was a disaster, sticking up in wild clumps. 

She started to feel a bit embarrassed at her enthusiasm but then he was on top of her, kissing her neck so softly that all coherent thought left her. 

He whispered "Are you sure?" 

"Gods, yes, please, hurry," she assured him. 

He hitched her leg over his hip and slid home. 

He stayed still for a moment while she adjusted to the feel of him inside of her.  
And he did feel different.  
Good. Very good. Fanfuckingtastic. But different.  
She signaled it was fine to move by running her nose along his neck and sighing "Jon, yes" into his ear. 

He shuddered and began to move. 

She felt amazing.  
He was struggling with his desire to please her and his desire to pound her into mattress.  
Hopefully there was a middle ground because he felt an orgasm creeping up fast.  
He decided to fight it off by pulling out and changing positions. 

He flipped her over and took her from behind.  
She liked that. Which was amazing...but all the breathy gasps of "Oh Jon, Yes" along with her deep moans made it so much worse for his stamina.  
He quickly flipped her back over and grabbed her ankles, lifting them up and over his shoulders.  
Nope. Even worse. Rookie mistake. 

As a last ditch effort, he flopped onto his back and lifted her on top of him.  
She looked surprised and flustered but gamely reached between them, lined him up and took him inside of her.  
That was better.  
He found her clit with his fingers and rubbed around until she gasped and purred.  
She looked like a goddess bouncing around on top of him.  
And her tits were amazing.  
She shuddered and tensed up.  
He could feel her muscles clenching around him.  
When she finally relaxed and opened her eyes to give him a serene smile, he sat up, grabbing her shoulders and pulled her in for a sloppy kiss. 

And with that, he flipped her one last time, on to her back and took his own trip to the cosmos.


	11. Chapter 11

Jon opened his eyes the next morning to the sight of Sansa sitting beside him on the bed, crisscross style, in his shirt from last night and his boxers. 

"Good morning," she said sweetly. "I ordered breakfast from room service so you could sleep in a little. I figured if you didn't flinch at fifteen dragon pretzels you could swing it. I hope that's okay. It should be here in a few minutes." 

Jon chuckled. "Smart and beautiful. Thank you," he replied, stretching. 

She laughed "It's almost eight and we have activities at nine. Why don't you hop in the shower?" 

She gave his beard a stroke and then pushed at his shoulder to encourage him to get moving. 

He shook his head, half smiling as he rolled out of the bed and headed for the bathroom. He had already been falling for her and after last night, he was definitely a goner.  
He was surprised to find himself looking forward to the couple's exercises today. 

Sansa watched him until she could see him in the shower and then she crept off the bed and over to the closet. 

She hadn't been sure of how sound of a sleeper he was and she was too anxious to risk rifling through his bag until she was sure he was out of sight and out of earshot. 

She carefully opened the closet door and first patted down his jacket and pants pockets. No suspicious bulges. 

Next she slowly unzipped his bag and picked her way carefully through the rest of his clothing.  
She was looking and feeling around for any vials or syringes, any pill bottles or spray bottles...anything that even remotely seemed like it could be the means of killing Dr. Redstone. 

Her plan was to stick to Jon so closely that he wouldn't have a chance to be alone with Dr. Redstone. 

Since she supposedly didn't know who the target was, she banked on it not looking suspicious if she were to medically intervene should Dr Redstone show any symptoms of illness or injury.  
It would be extremely advantageous to know what she was dealing with beforehand though. 

Maybe her efforts would be futile but she'd try her best anyway. 

She jumped when room service knocked on the door. "Just a minute," she called out as she carefully zipped Jon's suitcase closed and put it back into the closet. 

She was slipping on a robe to answer the door when Jon was stepping out of the steamy bathroom in one of the hotel robes. 

The waiter was placing their dishes on the table as she greeted Jon with a quick kiss and said he seemed like a traditional bacon, eggs and black coffee man but he was welcome to share her strawberry crepes. 

They talked quietly and laughed together as they ate their meals, feeding each other bites of food and looking for all of the world like any other young couple falling in love. 

************************** 

Dr. Redstone welcomed them to their first exercise of the day.  
Their task was to face each other and admit their biggest insecurity. 

Sansa rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Well, mine is easy." 

Jon looked at her with one raised eyebrow. 

"You've seen me naked, you already know," she whispered. 

"I'm afraid I really don't," he replied looking genuinely confused. 

Sansa huffed in disbelief and waved her hand around her chest. 

Jon stared at her before he cautiously said "Something about your chest? I'm going to need more information." 

She gaped at him in disbelief before leaning in to hiss "Oh don't pretend like it isn't obvious that Thelma is bigger than Louise." 

Jon burst out laughing, causing several other couples to turn around and look at them curiously. 

Sansa turned bright red as she crossed her arms over her chest defensively. 

Jon put up his hands in a gesture of peace and said "I was laughing at the names, not your breasts." 

She ducked her head and scowled. 

"Sansa, look at me," he said as he lifted her chin.  
"The only thing I thought when I saw you, all of you, last night was how lucky I was to be anywhere near such a gorgeous woman. In fact, I thought your ti...breasts were perfect. I swear to all the gods," he whispered. 

Okay. That was nice. She uncrossed her arms and smiled at him shyly.  
"Thank you," she whispered and swiftly leaned over to kiss his cheek. 

He grinned at her, happy to have made her smile and earn himself a kiss. 

"Okay, what's yours, then?" she asked teasingly. 

He frowned and looked away from her. "Do you really want to know?" he asked. 

"Yes, I really do," she said as she reached over and took his hand. 

He blew out a long breath. "It's that I'm just not worth it. Being...uh..loved. Never have been. Never will be," he trailed off and began chewing on his bottom lip, staring down at the floor. 

He hadn't moved an inch but in that moment, it felt as if he had put a thousand miles between them. 

Sansa knew this was a turning point. What she said and did next would be etched on both of their hearts forever.  
She took a deep breath and said "That breaks my heart. I am sorry for every person who ever made you feel that way. They were wrong." 

His eyes flashed to hers. He looked so young and so incredibly vulnerable. 

She held his gaze as she lifted her hand to cradle his cheek.  
He turned his head to kiss her palm. 

The chimes rang out to signify the first session of the day was finished. 

************************  
Everyone was encouraged to walk around the lake by Dr. Redstone. 

Sansa watched as both Dr. Redstones spread out a blanket near the lake and sat down together. Dr. Martha laid her head on her husband's shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. 

Sansa thought they looked sweet together. Could her husband be behind the hit?  
If he was, how could he just sit there with her, whispering in her ear, making her smile like that? 

She suddenly noticed Jon watching her watch the Redstones. 

She smiled and said "They seem happy. I hope I'm as lucky as they are someday." 

Jon nodded. "They seem very much in love," he said quietly. His mouth turned down at the corners ever so slightly and he looked away from her. 

Interesting. 

They made their way through the walking trail around the lake, both quiet, lost in their separate thoughts.  
Eventually, Jon's hand found hers and he twined his fingers with his.  
She smiled at him and gave his hand a little squeeze. 

And then they were called back inside for some impromptu one on one sessions with the Dr's Redstone. 

*********************** 

Sansa was a nervous wreck by the time she was called into Meeting Room 1A.  
Thank all of the gods that Jon was meeting with the male Dr. Redstone. 

(She had no idea what she would've done otherwise.) 

Dr. Redstone was seated in a comfy chair with a blanket over her lap.  
She was an attractive woman in her sixties with short salt and pepper hair, bright blue eyes and a warm smile. 

"Ah! Mrs. Sand. It is my pleasure to officially meet you," she said, smiling widely as she stood up and extended her hand. 

"Oh, please call me Sa...brina. And the pleasure is mine, Dr. Redstone," Sansa replied as she clasped the other woman's hand. 

"Well, then, please call me Martha," she replied gesturing for Sansa to sit in the chair across from her. 

"So, my dear, you and your husband seem quite happy together. What brings you two to this retreat?" 

"Dr. Redstone. Martha. This may be an odd question...but...can you think of anyone in your life who may want to harm you?" 

Martha blinked. "Why no, my dear. Are you concerned about someone in your life harming you? Because if you are I have many resources..."

"No, please," Sansa sighed and tried another approach. "You may think this is silly...but...I come from a long line of intuitive women. I see things sometimes. In my dreams. I had a dream about you. Just last night. You were in danger," Sansa said gravely. 

"Oh my dear, I think intuition is a very powerful thing. I would be foolish to discount it. But I assure you, I have no idea who could...." Martha trailed off and looked at Sansa closely. 

Dr. Redstone's gaze became sharp and she leaned in close, searching Sansa's eyes.  
"Is it you? Are you the one I hired to kill me?"


	12. Chapter 12

Sansa recoiled in shock. 

This kind, intelligent, successful woman had hired Jon to kill her?  
What the literal fuck was happening? 

"No. It's not me. It's the man I'm with," Sansa replied faintly. 

Martha looked at her shrewdly and picked up the handset of the hotel phone on the sidetable. 

"Honey, is Mr Sand with you now? Uh huh. Okay. Well, can you grab him from the waiting area and come to my room? We all need to talk." 

Sansa's stomach rolled. 

"I'm not supposed to know it was you," she told Martha in a small voice. 

"That man, the one you're with? He's yours. He'll forgive you for... snooping, I'm guessing? I promise you, honey. What's your real name?" 

"Sansa," she whispered tearfully. "I'm a nurse. I had to help..." 

"Ah. Bless you. I guess he didn't tell you details?" 

Sansa shook her head, too overwhelmed with confusion and heartache to speak. 

Jon and Martha's husband entered the room.  
Jon didn't seem surprised to see her.  
He seemed torn between anger and worry. 

Martha extended her hand to her husband who came to perch beside her on the arm of her chair.  
As he put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head, she addressed Jon and Sansa.  
"This is my husband, Paul. We've been married for 38 years. Most of them happy. Three children. Two grandchildren. We have had a good life. I was diagnosed 9 months ago with glioblastoma. 

Sansa gasped. "I am so sorry. What is your prognosis?" 

"I'm going to die. Very soon probably.  
I want to go out on my own terms, with my memories in tact. With my children and grandchildren remembering me as I am right now." 

Paul's face crumpled and he stood up, facing the wall, trying to stifle a sob. 

Martha smiled softly. "Paul is supportive but I could never ask him to do it. So I contacted you," she said, looking at Jon. 

She turned to Sansa. "The network promised me they would send someone who would give me a painless, peaceful, dignified death in my sleep tomorrow night. And that's what I want." 

She laughed softly. "I had the most amazing week with my children and the grandkids. And I'm having this last retreat in my favorite part of the world, doing the job I love with my husband by my side. Thank you for trying to save me. But I am ready to enjoy my last night with my love." 

Sansa wiped the tears from her cheeks and nodded.  
She rose from her chair and clasped Martha's hand before she walked toward the door. 

"Wait for me outside," Jon murmured to her as he walked over to kneel beside Martha's chair. 

Sansa closed the door behind her and struggled to regain her composure. 

From what she knew about glioblastoma, she understood Martha's decision.  
Her heart ached for Martha and Paul. 

A few minutes later, Jon stepped out of the room and quietly closed the door behind him. 

"We need to talk. Now," he said lowly. 

*************************** 

Neither of them said a word as they walked out to the trail around the lake. 

She could feel Jon's anger and sadness rolling off of him. 

"I memorized the tones when you opened the safe yesterday. I wanted to use the burner phone to call my sister. I saw Martha's photo with the note in the safe. I told her I had a dream she was in danger. That's it," Sansa said miserably. 

Jon closed his eyes and released a long, frustrated breath.  
"Sansa, I'm not all that surprised you snooped. I brought nothing incriminating except maybe that photo someone from the network put in my jacket pocket. I thought once that was in the safe it wouldn't matter how much you snooped. You proved me wrong," he said ruefully. 

"Did I fuck everything up? Are we in danger?" she asked on the verge of tears. 

"Thankfully no, I really don't think so. The hotel wasn't bugged. Paul and I joining you two wouldn't be suspicious. We are pretending to be a married couple after all." 

Sansa released a shaky breath.  
Thank the gods. 

"What happens now?" 

"We continue on as if neither you nor the Redstones know it's me who was sent from the network. I explained to them that pretending would keep us all safe. I will handle things late Sunday night and then we check out on Monday morning as planned." 

"This is just so sad," Sansa said sniffling. 

Jon didn't reply but he did put his arms around her and hugged her tight. 

************************** 

A couple of hours later, they sat in the dinning room, picking at their dinners when  
Martha sat down with them. 

She leaned in and leveled a stern gaze at them. "Stop it. Stop it right now. Do not mourn for me. You two look like kicked puppies. I will not allow it. Do you know what I'm doing tonight? I'm going to spend my evening half drunk, dancing while my love sings to me. And then we will get high and make love all night," she smiled wickedly. "He might not look it, but my Paul? He's an amazing lover. My best friend Myrtle has my blessing to seduce him in six months. And he has my blessing to knock her socks off. Celebrate me, dammit. I mean it."  
Martha pushed herself away from their table and stood up announcing "Time for Karaoke!' 

Jon and Sansa stared at each other. Jon started to smile and Sansa joined him. 

"Well, let's go celebrate her, dammit," he said, holding out his hand. 

********************** 

Dr. Paul Redstone had moves. He was currently singing "Need You Tonight" in a sultry voice to his blushing, delighted wife. 

True to her word, Dr. Martha Redstone was half drunk and giggling as she made her way onto the tiny stage in Meeting Room 1C and joined her husband. 

Together, they sang "I Got You Babe" and bowed with great flourish at the raucous applause. 

Martha had a gleam in her eye as she announced "And now for the cool vocal styling of Mr. Michael Sand!" 

"Oh fuck no!" Jon sputtered. 

Sansa hooted and began pushing at his shoulder while the crowd cheered him on. 

Sansa was bursting with curiosity as Jon flipped through the song book. 

She chortled into her glass of Arbor Gold as the opening guitar notes of "I Was Made For Loving You" began. 

She was delighted to hear that he had a great voice.  
His little shoulder shimmies were not expected.  
And her jaw dropped when he danced down to their little cocktail table, dropped to one knee and sang directly to her.  
It was really the whip motions he made with his hand during the guitar solo that got her though. 

Sansa was still doubled over laughing when he came back to the table, grinning at her as he waved off the crowd's wild applause. 

"And now Mrs. Sabrina Sand...can you top that?" Martha said bright eyed and chuckling. 

Sansa doubted it but she was game. 

She was turning the pages of the song book when she spotted it. Oh yes. 

She took the microphone and looked at Jon. He was watching her, smirking, one eyebrow cooked. 

His eyes widened and he sat up straight as "Love to Love You Baby" started.  
She put her heart, soul and hips into the song.  
She made her way over to the table and plopped herself in his lap during the breathy moans.  
She jumped up and sashayed back on stage when he moved to grab her.  
She sang to him over her shoulder while she swayed her hips. 

When she arrived back at the table after returning the microphone, Jon picked her up fireman style and headed out the door to hearty cheers and whistles from the crowd.


	13. Chapter 13

Sansa laughed all the way back to Room 14 as she bounced and swayed hanging upside down on Jon's shoulder. 

He fumbled with the key card and stumbled into the room. 

She slid down the front of Jon's body and then pushed against his chest until his back hit the wall. 

She backed away to grab a pillow from the couch and shook her head when he stepped forward. 

"Uh uh, honey," she said with a wicked grin. "Brace yourself against the wall. You're gonna need to," she said, dropping the pillow on the floor in front of him and sinking to her knees. 

"Hurrrgggh," was all he managed to get out before she had his pants unbuttoned and unzipped. 

"Fooozzzsh" was his next declaration as she pushed his pants down to his ankles and grabbed his cock in one hand and his balls in the other. 

"Just relax and enjoy," she whispered before she took him into her mouth. 

Jon's toes curled inside of her loafers as he saw stars. 

How the hell was she doing that? There was suction and swirling and tapping and his balls were thrilled but also seemed to be scrambling back into his body. 

He looked down at her and she winked at him before freeing one hand to smack his ass, then scratch at it before she went back to massaging him. 

Seven hells and shit balls of fire. 

His knees started to buckle as his vision went white.  
He grabbed onto her hair (as gently as he could in that moment) and babbled incoherently about not wanting to cum so fast. 

She abandoned her ministrations and told him with a dark chuckle "We've got all night baby. This is just an appetitzer," before she took him all the way down into her throat. 

And Jon would later believe he astral projected out of his body when he came.  
He slid down the wall to crumple into a heap of boneless bliss. 

Sansa smirked at him as she wiped her mouth and gracefully rose from kneeling, tossed the pillow back into the couch and announced "I think I'll take a shower." 

She looked at him expectantly. 

He lay there, pants around his ankles, weak kneed and panting. He waved her on as he closed his eyes. 

He could hear her chuckling as she undressed and turned on the shower. 

When he was finally able to stand up, he quickly shucked his clothes and joined her. 

**************************** 

"So...just curious. Where the fuck did you learn that?" 

She laughed. "Willas thought it was vulgar. Harry didn't want me to because he didn't want to reciprocate. But my best friend Marg showed me the basics on one of her many toys...and I read a lot," she shrugged. 

"Wait. So..." 

"Yep. That was my first real life blow job. I had a feeling I'd do well." 

"Holy shit! You were right. Definitely right." 

She smiled at him and poured body wash into her hand.  
"Turn around, I'll get your back," she said. 

One thing led to another and Sansa had her first partnered shower-gasm.  
It was a bit tricky figuring out a way that not only felt good for them both but also wouldn't cause them to slip and fall. 

(They were both amused later by seeing Sansa's handprints on the glass shower wall. ) 

Jon was happy to go along with whatever she suggested. And she suggested several things. 

By the time they fell asleep, Sansa knew she liked having her hair pulled (a little), she was definitely not into calling anyone Daddy in a sexual context, she liked her hands tied to the bedpost but not her feet, she really liked Jon's hands tied to the bedpost and she loved hearing dirty talk but not with a pirate accent. (That made her laugh too much.)  
She was exhausted but happy. 

***********************  
Sunday morning was cool and overcast. 

They opted to order room service again and then take a walk around the lake. 

Jon was quiet. She held his hand and let him be, occasionally pointing out flowers or birds to him. 

They sat on the lake shore for a long time. Talking about nothing important, mostly just sharing their likes and dislikes in food, wine, movies, music and books. 

They were missing the couple's activities but since the jig was up, that didn't seem important to either of them. 

Morning turned to afternoon, so they went to their room and laid down together as neither of them felt like eating. 

Neither slept. They just cuddled each other. 

Afternoon turned to evening as they watched the moon rise.  


Finally, around two in the morning, the room phone rang.  
Jon rolled over to answer it. 

"Alright. I'll be right.there," he sighed.  
"It's time." 

Sansa nodded and felt her eyes flooding with tears. "I'll be here," she said softly.  
He leaned over and kissed her gently, grabbed his jacket and left. 

************************* 

He looked sad and tired when he returned. He slipped off his shoes and jacket before coming to sit beside her on the bed. 

Sansa gazed at him, her red rimmed eyes and red nose gave away the fact that she had been crying. 

"It's done. She was ready. Today was a hard day," he said solemnly.  
"She thanked me," his voice cracked. "She thanked me and her fucking husband shook my hand," he said, sounding angry. 

Sansa opened her arms to him and he dove for her.  
They stayed like that, holding on to each other until sleep took them over. 

****************** 

Very early, that same morning, Sansa could see the ambulance still parked outside the hotel lobby as she walked to the dining hall.  
It seemed as though the hotel itself was in mouring. 

She poured Jon a paper cup of coffee, made herself some tea, grabbed a few muffins and crept back to their room. 

Jon was zipping his bag when she entered the room. She had packed the clothes he had provided in a cotton shopping bag from the gift shop.  
He had emptied it and placed the clothes in her overnight bag.  
She smiled sadly at the sight. 

He thanked her for the coffee and they ate without speaking much. 

Finally, she couldn't stand it anymore.  
"What happens now?" 

Jon stared at the coffee cup in his hands.  
"You go back to your life and I go on to the next job," he shrugged helplessly. 

"This sucks," she said, her voice breaking. 

He closed his eyes as he reached out to grab her hand. 

"If I can find a way...to get out of...what I do...would you have me?" he asked her softly. 

She gasped and reached over to clutch his hand with her other hand. "Yes. Oh my gods. Yes, of course! I lo..." she stopped herself and stared at him wide eyed. 

He gave her one of his half smiles and said "Me too." 

They smiled softly at each other. 

They lingered in the room until check out time. The hotel staff was red eyed and somber but nothing was said about Dr. Redstone. 

Jon took her to the airport, handed her a boarding pass for the next flight to Wintertown.  
He walked around to the trunk to retrieve her bag and then opened her door. 

They hugged and kissed in the loading zone until the traffic officer cleared his throat meaningfully. 

She picked up her bag and walked quickly into the airport. 

She didn't cry until the plane took off.


	14. Chapter 14

The first thing Sansa did once she disembarked the plane was call her sister Arya.  
Yes, she was fine. Yes, she was home. And please don't ask for details, they will catch up later, in person. 

Her second phone call was to Harry asking him to meet her for coffee at the hospital cafe before her shift started the next day. 

She went home, dumped her purse and bag by the door, walked to her bedroom, dived facedown on her bed and slept for 12 hours straight. 

********************** 

The break up talk with Harry went well.  
He had no idea she knew about Saffron (and he certainly didn't know about Jon.)   
Fortunately Harry good naturedly accepted when she told him that even though they had fun together, she was ready to settle down and she could tell he wasn't.  
They agreed to stay on friendly terms with no hard feelings.  
(Harry was flirting with the cafe cashier before Sansa finished throwing away her empty to-go cup of tea. Jeez.) 

Days, weeks and months went by with no word from Jon.  
Some nights the only thing that assured her he was real was the clothing he gave her which she wore whenever she could when she wasn't working. 

She missed him.  
She worried about him.  
The only person she could sort of talk to about him was Arya.  
She never told Arya the entire story but her sister was intuitive enough to gather at least some of it.  
Sansa often caught Arya looking at her sympathetically when they were together. 

And she was pathetically grateful when Arya snapped at their brother to stop trying to set Sansa up with his work colleague. 

She spent time with Marg. She hung out with Arya (and Gendry.) She visited her parents. She planned a baby shower for her sister in law. She attended her little brother's soccer games. 

Everyone close to her knew something (or someone) was bothering Sansa but she would only shrug and change the subject when they asked. 

After four months, Sansa decided it was time to adopt a puppy. 

She was torn between a tiny all white puppy with red eyes (and huge paws) or a tiny brown puppy (also with huge paws but still somehow dainty at the same time.) 

Sansa came home from the shelter with both puppies whom she named Ghost and Hope. 

******************* 

She was standing her in her sunny kitchen, having just taken a pan of her famous triple chocolate brownies out of the oven when her doorbell rang. 

Wondering how Arya always seemed to know when she was baking, she sighed in exasperation and yanked open her front door to see Jon. 

She stood there staring at him, slack jawed and cursing herself for wearing purple dinosaur leggings and that damn Geology Rocks! t-shirt. 

He looked fantastic. His hair was longer and pulled back into a bun. He looked a little thin but so handsome in his tight jeans and black t-shirt. 

She finally shook herself from her stupor when the puppies ran past her onto the porch and yipped joyfully around Jon's boots, thrilled at the prospect of making a new friend. 

"Hi," she finally said, breathlessly. 

"Hi," he replied with that half smile. 

She ushered him and the puppies inside. 

She had no idea what to do.  
Did they hug? Kiss? Should she jump him? Was he here to declare his love? Or was he here to tell her "it was fun but I've moved on" or was he here to tell her she had to go on the lam? 

"I was just making brownies, would you like one?" she asked, walking toward the kitchen. 

She looked over her shoulder to see him looking around her living room with the puppies jumping around his feet. 

He looked so good and so right standing there in her little house with her puppies that it took her breath. She felt tears spring into her eyes. 

"I'm out. Out of the business. I retired. Officially," he said quietly, not looking at her. 

"Oh?" 

"Yeah. I've been seeing a therapist," he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.  
"Three times a week for about three months," he continued, still not looking at her. 

"Really?" 

"Yeah. Good guy. Makes me call him Davos. He...uh..helps people with similar backgrounds as me. A lot of military retirees and all. He's been helping me adjust," he said as he bent low to pet the puppies.  
Ghost immediately rolled onto his back for tummy rubs while Hope did her best Sit Pretty to impress him. 

"Well, that sounds great," she said softly. 

She was too afraid to get her hopes up that he was here to start a relationship with her. As much as her heart was crying out for her to fling herself into his arms, she couldn't.  
He had to ask before she would give. 

He took a deep breath and finally looked into her eyes. "I never stopped thinking about you. Or missing you. Or wondering how you were. I knew I had to get my shit together before I had any right to come see you. To ask you to be with me, for real." 

She felt a flood of relief pour over her. 

"I never stopped thinking about you or missing you or wondering how you were either. If you ask, I'll say yes," she said quietly. 

A wide grin broke across his face and he stepped carefully around the puppies and then hurried over to pull her into a hug. 

After a moment, he pulled his head back and asked her "Sansa Stark, may I take you to dinner tonight?" 

"Yes. Yes you may." 

And then he finally kissed her in real life. 

*******************  
Two years passed in a flash. 

After eight months of dating, Jon and Sansa Snow were married in very small and intimate ceremony in her parent's backyard rose garden. 

Her family was a bit confused by the whirlwind courtship but they liked Jon and they loved seeing Sansa so happy. 

Jon continued to see Davos once a week while he worked his way up to Head of Security within Wintertown Hospital's IT department. (The irony never failed to amuse Sansa.) 

The puppies grew into hundred pound behemoths who could easily knock guests over with their enthusiasm if they weren't careful. (Training was an ongoing process. ) 

Sansa and Jon were happy.  
They fought sometimes. They laughed a lot. They made love and made mischief with each other as often as they could. 

Their little family eventually grew to three humans and two dogs when their daughter Lila was born. She had her father's inky curls and her mother's blue eyes. 

Jon was a great dad with their sweet, sunny little girl. Patient and loving.  
Sansa's heart bloomed when she saw how gentle Jon was with their daughter. 

The last piece of the puzzle came together three years later when their son Sam was born.  
Straight brown hair and dark brown eyes like his Aunt Arya. (He also took after her in personality too.) Funny, whip smart and rebellious from the cradle, Sam was a handful sometimes but genuinely a great kid. 

Their life was sweet and full of love.

Sometimes late at night Jon watched his wife sleeping and wondered how in the hell he got so lucky. 

He was able to cope better with his past now. Thanks to Sansa and also to Davos. 

When he felt lost, he remembered Martha Redstone.  
He, of all people, understood that life was short.  
And now that he had so much to live for, he intended to live a life worth celebrating, dammit.

The End.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who read this story and to everyone who commented. 
> 
> I appreciate it.
> 
> I wish you all love, happiness and peace. 
> 
> Be well. ❤


End file.
